ramen and kisses
by worldoffire
Summary: It occurs over the span of a month: she's not entirely sure what's going on, and he just can't seem to get his nerves up for the longest time. NaruHina.


Ugh I don't even know if this is good, I wrote while sleep deprived again. To hell with it, though, at least it makes sense, though I don't particularly enjoy the title. Don't feel like coming up with a better one, though, so it stays. Anyways NaruHina is looove yes~ otp otp otp. Well, one of them, anyways. Enjoy. c:

Disclaimer: …well I don't own Naruto, but I have these super cute kittens.

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It happens over the course of a month, in three different incidents.

The first one is about three months after the war ends, after everyone has returned to Konoha. Life is back to normal, finally, and she's relieved by that; the war had been stressful, though it did lead to her promotion to jonin. They've all been promoted, actually; every remaining member of the Konoha Twelve is now a jonin or higher (Sasuke has gone into the ANBU, as have both Tenten and Ino).

It goes like this:

She's sitting at Ichiraku's with a bowl of miso ramen, idly picking at it, when he comes bounding up, blonde hair messier than usual and sky-coloured eyes dancing. "Hinata! I didn't know you ate at Ichiraku's!" He sits down next to her, and looks towards Teuchi with a beaming smile. "I'll have the usual, of course."

"I don't, normally. But I was passing by and ramen sounded good to me, so, here I am." She gestures to the stand in general with a wave of her hand.

"Huh. Cool." Teuchi places a bowl before Naruto, a steaming pile of noodles within it. He picks up a pair of chopsticks, though doesn't start eating yet. "Thanks, Teuchi. Could you start on three bowls of miso? My genin team was following behind me and they should be here soon enough."

She's silent for a moment following that, attempting to process it more than anything. "Naruto, why did you leave your students behind? Shouldn't you have walked with them?"

He waves his hand. "Nah. I told them where I was headed and they know their way around Konoha. Not as well as me, of course, but does anyone?" He laughs. "I spent half of my childhood racing around this village, hiding from the ANBU. I know all the shortcuts, including the ones to here. That's why I won the race we were having."

It's just as he finishes that sentence that three children make their way up to the stand, bent over and out of breath; two boys—one, standing on the far left, with dark hair and green eyes, and another with brown hair and blue eyes—and a girl with Hyuga eyes. Both boys are in shorts and shirts, while the girl is in long pants and a jacket despite the heat; typical Hyuga clothing, she knows. It's what she's wearing right now, though hers have colour, while the girl's clothing is a pale off-white colour.

Naruto turns to look at them; just as he does, Teuchi slides three more bowls of ramen onto the counter. "It's about time, you three. We'll have to work on your speed tomorrow. Hinata, these are my students. The boy on the left is Yuki, the other one is Shiro, and the girl is—"

"Mai," she interrupts him. "I know; I've seen her around the compound." She smiles at the three of them; if they're Naruto's students, they must be tired. She's never seen anyone manage to keep up with him, no matter how much stamina they possess. Even the ANBU have issues with it, which is why he got away with so much as a child.

"Oh, yeah. You would've, of course." He motions to the three of them; they've all collected their breath by now and are just standing there looking at the two of them. "Well? There's ramen for you three, and if you don't eat it, I will." Then, to Teuchi, "Teuchi? How much will it be for all of the ramen; mine, theirs, and Hinata's?"

The chef looks at him and smiles. "On the house tonight, Naruto. You should bring your students by more often; they need the food if they're going to keep up with you."

She looks at Teuchi herself. "Uh, sir, I'd much rather pay—"

He cuts her off midsentence. "Don't worry about it. It'd have been on the house anyways; I've been treating all the shinobi today, in celebration. It's been three months since the war ended, after all, and we've had no conflict since. I'd say that's call for celebration."

Naruto grabs her hand and pulls her up before she can try and argue. "Thanks, Teuchi! Have a good night, and tell Ayame I said hello." He turns to his students, who look back warily; as if they think he'll challenge them to another race and not let them finish their ramen. "Yuki, Shiro, Mai; training ground twelve tomorrow at ten, and be ready for a long day. Enjoy the ramen!"

She hears them groan as they walk away.

He walks her back to the Hyuga compound, still holding onto her hand, chattering about his day in general, and asking how hers has been. She replies—boring, nothing much has happened, no missions so she spent the day wandering about the village.

When they reach the compound, he lets go of her hand. "Well, have a good night, Hinata." He turns to walk away, and then turns back, leaning forward.

She blushes as he kisses her cheek. Then he really turns to walk away, looking back with a bright smile and a wave. She stands and watches him walk off, not really sure what just happened.

The second time, it's been two weeks since the first incident and she's still not entirely certain what had happened, or what to make of it; so, she prefers to act as if it had never happened while speaking with Naruto.

The second incident goes like this:

It is midday and she's sitting on a bench in the park, feeding birds from a bag next to her feet. As she's leaning down to scatter more seeds, they fly off; at the same time, a pair of shoes come into view. When she looks up, she sees blonde hair and blue eyes and a smile. It fades as he looks down, though.

"Did I scare them away? Sorry, Hinata. Maybe if I sit down and don't move they'll come back; they seemed to like you." He sits next to her, and they're silent for a minute or so. Just as she's about to speak, say that it doesn't seem as if the birds are returning, a pair of them fly down and land next to the bag, searching for bird seed. She drops the handful she's been holding between them, and they dive on it. Within seconds another has joined them, and another.

She looks down and smiles, then says, softly, "The trick is staying still and being quiet; no sudden movements. They startle easily; I moved my hand suddenly earlier and they all flew away. They came back soon enough, though; they like the food."

He nods, looking at her as if she's just said something amazing. Gesturing to the bag of birdseed at her feet, he asks, "Mind if I try?"

"Not at all. Just scoop out a handful and put your hand near them; do it slowly, though, or they'll be scared off."

She watches as he does exactly what she'd told him to; soon enough, they're pecking at his hand, and he's laughing softly. She smiles; it does tickle when they do that. It's not a sharp enough peck to hurt; only enough to retrieve a seed.

They spend the entire day like this, feeding birds and talking softly, only moving once when they've run out of birdseed and she returns to the compound to get more. They only part when the sun is setting, and he reaches over to hug her. "See you tomorrow, Hinata." He beams at her, like always, before he bounds off towards his apartment.

When she returns home, she wonders if that could have been considered a date.

The third and final incident before she realizes what's going on is two weeks past the second; exactly as much time as between the other two incidents. It's the shortest one by far, occurring within the span of ten minutes.

It goes just like this:

She's leaning against a wall, and Naruto is lounging beside her; they've been talking about missions for the last five minutes, having run into each other—her on the way to turn in a report on a mission, he on the way to get ready.

She's abruptly cut off midsentence when he leans over and kisses her.

It's short, short and sweet, and lasts only a few seconds. When he pulls away, her eyes are wide, and his don't take long to become the same. "Oh, damn it, damn it, I just screwed everything up between us, didn't I? Sakura told me when I asked that you liked me too, but I haven't been sure over the last month so I figured today I'd just go for it and hope for the best because I've actually been feeling optimistic about it, and I just messed up our entire friendship—"

She cuts him off in midsentence the same way, rising on her tiptoes to meet his lips. When she pulls away, she smiles at him. "Naruto. You didn't mess anything up; Sakura was right. I do. I have for years, actually."

He breaks into a smile, two rows of bright white teeth, and scoops her into a hug. "Oh. Okay, then. So, Hinata, can I take you on an official date when I get back from my mission? We should return tomorrow, so, eight? Ichiraku's?"

She answers him with another kiss.


End file.
